When our lawn
mower broke and wouldnt run, my wife kept hinting
to me that I should get it fixed. But, somehow I always
had something else to take care of first, the truck, the
car, fishing, always something more important to me.

Finally she thought of a clever way to
make her point.

When I arrived home one day, I found
her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a
tiny pair of sewing scissors. I watched silently for a
short time and then went into the house. I was gone only
a few minutes. When I came out again I handed her a
toothbrush.

"When you finish cutting the
grass," I said, "you might as well sweep the
sidewalk."

The doctors say I will walk again, but
I will always have a limp.

1910

INTERESTING MELANGE. A Chronological Record of Events as they have
Transpired in the City and County since our last Issue.

The Horse Thief
Escaped.

But the
Horse Was Recovered -

Vane
Ballard the Owner.

Vane Ballard was
in town today looking for a gray mare, seven years old,
stolen from his farm 8 miles northwest of Carthage, last
Thursday.

Mr. Ballard
rented his farm last April to Theodore Fredrick and
furnished him a team and implements to work with. Last
Wednesday Fredrick came to town with a lot of chickens
and sold them. Thursday he sold his interest in the
growing crop for $10 and mounting Mr. Ballards mare
started to leave the country. Mr. Ballard was in Carthage
and knew nothing of his renters doings.

Saturday
Fredrick tried to sell the mare in Springfield and in so
doing aroused suspicion and was arrested. The Springfield
officers wired Sheriff Warren, of this city, but as the
latter had no information, he answered that the man was
not wanted here.

News release: Carthage
retailers will gather to organize and plan for
the Citywide Sidewalk Sale slated for July 23-24,
2010.

Three meetings are slated to
assure every retailers ability to
participate. "Carthage has an amazing
selection of shopping venues," stated Linda
Redshaw of the Carthage Chamber of Commerce.
"Individuals travel to Carthage from
communities throughout the area to shop. We want
to build upon that wide customer base as we
approach the end-of-summer, back-to-school and
fall home improvement and decorating
season." Organized promotion of
Carthages varied shopping opportunities is
part of the Carthage Chamber of Commerces
efforts to maximize benefits of membership and
promote the Carthage business community,
according to Redshaw.

The three meetings are
scheduled for: Monday, June 7th at the Chamber
office, Tuesday, June 8th at Humble Pie &
Coffee, Wednesday, June 9th at Sirloin Stockade.

The 8:00-8:45 a.m. meetings
were selected to enable retailers to participate
and still be able to open for business.Retailers
should call 358-2373 to reserve seating.

.

NASCAR THIS WEEK

By Monte Dutton

Sponsored
by Curry Automotive

Honoring the
Greats

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- In future
years, the NASCAR Hall of Fame will choose five
inductees a year, guaranteeing that its shrine
will always be exclusive.

There is, however, only one
inaugural class ... and only one inaugural
induction.

"You get to focus on five
people every year, and they get their due,"
said executive director Winston Kelley. "It
couldve been four, and it couldve
been six. Some people said you need a bunch
of people in there, but I didnt like
that concept and gave my feedback to
NASCAR."

The first induction class
consisted of two men, father and son,
instrumental in the organization and growth of
NASCAR. It included the driver with the most
wins, the two with the most championships and one
whose fame stretches from driving race cars to
building and owning them.

Richard Petty won 200 races at
NASCARs top level, now known as Sprint Cup.
He and Dale Earnhardt each won a record seven
championships. Junior Johnson may be the most
legendary figure of them all. William H.G. (Big
Bill) France founded NASCAR, and his son, William
C. (Bill Jr.) France, took stock-car racing into
the American sporting mainstream.

Only Petty and Johnson lived to
see the induction, which took place on May 23.

Even at the dawn of NASCAR --
an organizational meeting on Dec. 14, 1947, in a
Daytona Beach, Fla., hotel -- no one but Big Bill
France saw stock-car racings possibilities.

Bill France Jr. was
underestimated when he took over NASCAR from his
father, but how could he have avoided it? He had
a father who was larger than life. Though he
lacked his fathers vision, he inherited
toughness and ambition.

A record 200 victories do not
account completely for Richard Pettys
legacy. His personality is central to the sport.
One other man equaled The Kings record
seven championships, but no one is going to
eclipse the 200 victories, or, for that matter,
the 27 races he won in a single season (1967).

No race driver was ever tougher
than Dale Earnhardt. No one was ever better at
closing a deal or doing what it took to win. The
presence of Earnhardts No. 3 was enough to
make most drivers make mistakes, hence the apt
nickname The Intimidator. Like Petty, he won
seven titles.

Junior Johnson is a living,
breathing embodiment of NASCARs history. He
migrated from the highways, where he "ran
moonshine," to the dirt tracks and then the
superspeedways. He was among the greatest as
driver, mechanic and owner.

I hope the City Council is
hearin from the folks that have been
talkin to me about fireworks.

Ive heard "I
dont wanna hear it" several times
durin the week. A couple a folks have
taken the time to come by the shop to express
there support of the ban. A letter or two
that were unsigned so I couldnt print
em.

The Council is scheduled to
vote on this fireworks thing this next
Tuesday evenin in City Hall around
7:30. If you have an opinion, its time
ta speak up.

Let your Council know how
ya feel. If they dont hear anything,
they figure everone agrees with what
theyre doin.

Take a minute and let
em know. You dont have to be
unfriendly, just let em know.

It was a rainy afternoon...I
had driven a couple of miles when the car
stalled. After 15 minutes the engine started and
I limped home. I decided to pop the distributor
cap and have a look. In the process, the clip at
the back of the distributor broke off. Of course,
the friendly folks at my VW dealership say the
clip is part of the distributor itself, not sold
separately. So I got another distributor on eBay,
and went out to remove my old one. No luck.
Its frozen to the block and wont
budge. So far, I have tried repeated applications
of PBBlaster and Liquid Wrench. I have tried
prying it out with a crowbar. I also tried
tapping it with a hammer, and when I
couldnt get a decent swing due to tight
quarters, I moved up to an air chisel. Its
still stuck solid. Any suggestions? - Jim

Tom: Well, these all are things
we would have tried, Jim. Our next step would
have been to set the car on fire.

Ray: No, youve far from
exhausted your options, Jim. If you havent
already chiseled Teddy Roosevelts profile
into the distributor, one option is to simply
forget about the broken clip, and glue a new
distributor cap to the old distributor.

Tom: What we do is coat the
bottom edge of the cap with a silicone adhesive,
and then use the remaining clip and a couple of
wire ties to secure it. Once that adhesive sets,
the cap wont go anywhere.

Ray: It its already too
late for that(Im guessing it is", the
next thing to try is, with the cap off the
distributor and the remaining "good"
clip out of the way, grabbing the distributor
with an oil filter wrench.

Tom: But when you start getting
frustrated, make sure you stop and take a break,
Jim. Its easy to take youre
frustration out on the car.